Aug. 30, 2007

Written by

CURT CONRAD

News Journal

Last Week: Clark rushed for a team-high 58 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown, on nine carries in Lucas' 10-8 loss to Plymouth. On defense, he made 18 tackles, including seven tackles for loss, and had a safety.

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LUCAS -- Before he was the head coach at Lucas, Rod Gallaway worked with several talented athletes as an assistant at Mansfield Senior.

He sees a lot of similarities between them and Tyler Clark.

"He reminds me of Erik Dandy and Brian White and Maurice Bradley," said Gallaway, reeling off a who's-who of Mansfield Senior linebackers from the past decade. "They all loved to hit and had a nose for the ball , and Tyler is the same way.

"Only he runs better. He's all over the field."

At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Clark has the size of a Division I prospect. He's being courted by several Mid-American Conference schools.

"I haven't made any decisions yet," Clark said. "I want to go to a school where I can come in and play."

That college recruiters found Clark is a testament to his ability. Exposure at a Division VI high school is hard to come by.

"Playing at a small school, you get a little overlooked," Clark said. "It crossed my mind to go to a bigger school, but I'm glad I stayed. At Lucas, it's all about family."

Clark, who doubles as a fullback on offense, averaged more than 10 tackles a game as the Cubs advanced to the Division VI regional quarterfinals last fall. In the opener against Plymouth, he made 18 tackles, including seven tackles for loss.

"He absolutely is a player that you game plan for," Lucas defensive coordinator Tim Niswander said. "If you don't find him, he will make the tackle and it's usually pretty violent."

The Cubs lost a wealth of talent off last year's playoff team, including a pair of All-Ohioans in Andrew Iceman and Zach Stallard. Clark said teams have begun to focus more of their attention on him.

"It's a lot different from last year," he said. "There were times in the opener when I was getting blocked by three or four guys. They were keying on me."

The Cubs are trying to do some things to free up their standout middle linebacker.

"He does such a great job of diagnosing plays and attacking," Niswander said. "We want him to play as free as possible."

In last week's 10-8 loss to Plymouth, Clark rushed for a team-high 58 yards on nine carries and scored Lucas' lone touchdown, a 28-yarder in the first quarter.

His future lies on the defensive side of the ball.

"Colleges would be foolish to take him away from the middle linebacker spot," Gallaway said. "He's so athletic and he's always heads-up."

Clark knows there's still plenty of work to do before he arrives on campus next fall.

"I need to get bigger and faster, but it's hard when you play three sports a year," he said. "You can never be strong enough or fast enough."

Niswander agreed.

"Tyler needs to get in the weight room and get stronger and bigger," he said. "He has the type of frame to put on weight pretty easily and not lose any speed, and maybe even get a little faster.

"The biggest adjustment at the next level is speed and he has it, especially for his size."